Saved and Certain

The Fact, the Faith and the Feeling

The Fact

The fact is that in order to be saved, one must realize and acknowledge the fact that he is lost. Man is separated from God because of sin and without hope outside the mercy of God. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 3:19 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

By nature, our inherent sinful life is passed on to the human family by our forefather Adam. His sin separates man from God. We don’t have to do anything to become sinners. We are sinful by birth and by nature. The Psalmist David said of himself, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalms 51:5). He further states the condition of the human heart; “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies” (Psalms 58:3). A tiny baby, before it learns to walk or talk, learns to lie. The baby can be in bed and begin to cry as if it were dying, and at the moment someone picks it up, it becomes very calm. In a sense, the baby is lying. It wasn’t sick or hurting but wants someone to take it up. Notice the awful state man is in before God;

Security of the Believer

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” This is the most important thing about the security of our salvation, is that it is obtained by grace.
Adam and Eve were created as perfect individuals that were free to make their own choices. They were under the law from God not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were free moral agents to choose to obey or to disobey the command given to them by God. There was a condition set before them by using the term “if”. This allows Adam and Eve to make a choice to do right or to do wrong.

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SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM Baptism is a divine command (Acts 10:48) and is included in the Great Commission. (Matt. 28:19-20). The Bible mentions water baptism in 77 different verses. In any serious study of the New Testament baptism, four questions must be answered:

I. WHY IS BAPTISM IMPORTANT?

1. There are only two ordinances given by Christ for every believer to observe: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Of these, Baptism was given first and is mentioned about ten times as often in the New Testament.
2. It is commanded by:
   a. Christ (Matt. 28:19-20). It is part of the Great Commission.
   b. Peter (Acts 10:48) (cf Acts 2:41)
   c. Phillip (Acts 8:38) d. Paul (Acts 19:1-7)
3. Jesus chose to be baptized and publicly to show us that we should be (Matt. 3:15).

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ASSURANCE Assurance is the intellectual and spiritual certainty that one belongs to God and possesses salvation. God does not want His child to be in doubt about his salvation. The Bible plainly states that a person can and should KNOW that he is on the way to Heaven and that knowing this he may enjoy his salvation.

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SALVATION As a great building rest upon the structure of its foundation, so a church or the Christian life of an individual must be established upon a firm foundation. Jesus Christ is the Foundation, (I Cor. 3:11). Upon this Foundation one must build a structure based upon solid Bible truth. Let us begin our study with reviewing what happened to us when we trusted Christ as our Saviour and Lord.
“…. give diligence to make your calling and election sure …. ” (II Pet. 1:10).

when waiting On God

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Psalms 27:14

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psalms 62:5

Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.
Psalms 33:20